Get Back In the Groove

Those treadmills can be intimidating after a long holiday weekend. Gym photo via shutterstock.

If you indulged a bit too much during the long, holiday weekend, it can take anywhere between three to seven days to fully recover, says Paul Gozbekian, personal training manager at Equinox Dartmouth Street. In fact, he says that the sodium alone from a booze and barbecue binge can take up to seven days to balance out. Here are his expert tips for a smart recovery so you can get back to the fitness grind and feel healthy again.

Watch the Sodium
All that barbecue food is loaded with sodium and it will cause you to retain water and gain weight for a few days. So, reduce your sodium intake by limiting prepared foods, cold cuts, and beef. Be sure to check labels for sodium levels. Drinking extra water will help flush out the extra sodium.

Lower Carb Intake
Splurging on carbs, even just for one long weekend, can cause significant weight gain. Moderate your carb intake for a few days to help balance out that excess. Increase protein and fat to account for the lower carbs. Perhaps, just as a jumpstart, you should lower your overall caloric intake as well, but too much.

Burn the extra calories
Put in some extra time or an extra day or two doing cardio and pick up the intensity level to burn some extra calories for the week.  Mix it up by trying some new high intensity exercises. Kettlebell snatches can burn as many as 25 calories per minute.

Stretch
If you’ve been laying out on the beach for most of the weekend, your body is most likely tight which can cause the muscles and other soft tissue to get tighter and potentially cause injury. Use the foam roller and stretch for 20 to 30 minutes for a couple of days this week.

Weight check
If you need some motivation to get back in the gym, step on the scale. You could see anywhere from a five to 10 pound increase, just from one long weekend! Check your weight first thing in the morning, and follow the steps above. You’ll see a weight decrease each day, which is a great motivator to stay on track.